One Another
by LunaticTKR
Summary: Hajime has been having the time of his life on Jabberwock Island, but one week after arriving, he suddenly wakes up in the body of Mahiru Koizumi, with Mahiru being stuck in his own body. Tasked with teaching each other how to act as themselves, Hajime and Mahiru set out to find a way to make everything normal before their closest friends start getting suspicious.
1. 1) Her Room

The sunlight had welcomed the beginning of a new day on Jabberwock Island, and it was sure to be just as beautiful a day as the previous few. After entering Hope's Peak Academy for the first time, Hajime and his new classmates suddenly managed to find themselves on a beautiful island alongside a talking stuffed animal. Any attempt at a rational question about the situation went unanswered, and the confusion rang high among the students. The stuffed animal, introducing herself as Usami, quickly told them what the purpose of the trip was. They were tasked with collecting materials and using them to construct special items. Again, any question about the situation went unanswered by the stuffed animal. Hajime and the others eventually decided against asking anymore questions, and instead opted to enjoying the sunny weather, and having fun getting to know each other. For a few days now, Hajime had been having the time of his life, hanging out with the others, and the work he had to do every day wasn't too bad in his opinion. He'd found a couple of good friends in Chiaki and Souda, and even seemed to get along nicely with the rest of the group. Yeah, Hajime was having more fun than ever in his new situation, and quickly found himself forgetting all about the initial confusion he had when he first arrived.

About a week after arriving, they had managed to find all the necessary materials to create the first item on the list. After getting the green light from Usami, they held a gigantic beach party to celebrate. And out of all the things to happen on the island so far, Hajime had enjoyed this particular night the most. It was a wild mess of dancing, talking, laughing… So much so, that when the party was finally over, he'd gone home and quickly collapsed on his bed. With all of his energy gone, he couldn't wait to find out what tomorrow would have in store for him. The night swiftly passed, and the sun once again shined through every students window, inviting them to wake up and enjoy yet another day.

* * *

Hajime woke up.

He opened his eyes, but quickly found himself closing them when exposed to the brightness of the sun coming in through the window. He instead opted for sitting upright in the bed without opening his eyes.

Hajime expected his body to be really heavy and immobile from the wild party last night, but much to his surprise, he found himself sitting upright with ease.

After sitting motionless for a while, trying to get energy to actually get off the bed and start the day, he rubbed his eyes with his arm before opening them slowly.

The sunlight temporarily blinded him, making everything in the room turn white, but soon the room came into focus.

Tired and still a bit drowsy, he lazily and with no urgency scanned the room. There really wasn't a need to, but after only a week of sleeping somewhere other than his own bed for a change, he just sort of instinctively wanted to confirm that he, in fact, was somewhere else…

…

Yup, this was definitely a cabin by the Jabberwock Hotel. There was a shower, the bed he was currently laying in…

But then his gaze suddenly fell onto a certain object on the wall. Something he didn't notice before.

A corkboard was hanging, just to the left of his bed.

It looked clean and organized, with a bunch of pictures hanging neatly on it.

It wouldn't look out of place to outsiders, and it certainly didn't look wrong in any way.

But for Hajime, it was wrong.

It was very, very wrong.

He didn't have any corkboard on the wall. He didn't have any pictures with him on the trip. He didn't remember ever taking pictures during the trip.

In fact, he distinctively remember there being a bunch of shelves instead. He didn't really have anything to put on them, so they were left empty, but they were definitely there.

Hajime's eyes widened, and as they did, he began to notice that it wasn't just the corkboard that was different than he'd remembered.

Suddenly finding himself frozen in his bed, his eyes darted back and forth across the room.

Subtle differences quickly turned into plain contradictions of memory.

The table underneath the corkboard, where the shelves should have been.

Books on the table instead of the flowers he distinctively remembered watering at some point.

The carpet laid out in the room, instead of the wooden floor being completely exposed.

His body and mind becoming more awake than ever before, Hajime reacted to the sudden sensation of panic he was currently experiencing with a confused sound.

"Huh?"

His mind processed what he'd just heard himself say out loud.

He tried speaking again, the exact same sound leaving his mouth once again.

"Huh?"

It was strange, but Hajime was certain.

That wasn't his voice.

The sound repeated over and over in his head. It wasn't his voice. He knew what he sounded like to himself… and that wasn't it.

The sound currently coming out of his mouth was lighter and more soft compared to his "own" voice. Hell, it almost sounded…

Feminine.

Refusing to believe his ears, Hajime spoke out loud once again.

"What? What's happening to my voice?!"

There was no mistaking it.

The voice was that of a girl.

Hajime quickly decided to turn his attention away from the room, and onto himself. He didn't see anything weird before, when the tired state of his mind made processing everything difficult, but now, he clearly saw it.

His usual tie had been replaced with a red and white checkered one. His skin had become much paler than he remembered. He was wearing a green dress instead of his usual clothing.

But even that wasn't the strangest thing Hajime could think of. Only just now did he realize that the dress felt rather tight around his chest area. Looking directly down, the entirety of his body below the throat came in full view.

Hajime could not believe what he was seeing.

"No way…"

He couldn't explain it himself. He had no idea why. But somehow, some way…

"No way… Nowaynowaynowaynoway… No fucking way…"

He had… boobs. Like, literal boobs. Not some pretend stuff where he'd put tissue paper under his shirt to feel what it would be like to be a girl, but… actual breasts hanging from his chest.

Refusing to believe what was shown in front of him, Hajime poked one of them.

As he felt the response from the touch, another impossible conclusion had to be drawn.

They were most definitely real.

Hajime's mind flew into a state of complete panic.

" _Whats happening to me!? Is this some kind of joke?!"_

Hajime's breathing increased as he got off the bed and looked around the room, not having any idea what to do.

" _Am I… am I dreaming?"_

The thought made Hajime's movements pause for a sec, before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Yes, that must be it. I'm dreaming. This is all a dream, this isn't happening, and when I wake up it'll be all over."

Breathing a sigh of relief, fully convinced that his theory was true, Hajime started laughing.

"Ahaha… How silly of me… There's no way this could happen for real… Haha…"

Hajime stretched out his arm.

"Alright… All I gotta do to get out of here is to pinch myself."

Grabbing the skin on his left arm with the thumb and second finger on his right hand, he started to squeeze.

A second passed. Five seconds passed. Ten seconds passed.

Nothing happened.

"Hmm?"

Hajime squeezed harder, to the point of it being actually painful. The skin was starting to turn pure red, as the nails dug even deeper into the skin.

Nothing happened.

He closed his eyes, pinched himself even harder than before. The pain was unbearable, but he forced himself to continue doing it. With gritted teeth, he began imagining his own room in his mind. The walls, the ceiling, the furniture, everything he distinctively remembered appeared in his head.

Then his eyes opened again.

His arm still looked pale.

The clothes still weren't his own.

Once again, nothing happened.

Hajime shot up from the bed, as the reality of the situation dawned on him.

This was no dream.

This was all real.

It was all way too real.

"Holy shit… No way…"

The previous sense of relief was completely destroyed in the span of only a few seconds.

" _I don't believe it, but this is real. I don't believe it, but this is real. I don't believe it, but this is real."_

His mind was fighting against itself. One half refused to believe what was happening, while the other half was forced to accept it.

His hands instinctively moved to his face as a question suddenly forced itself into his mind.

A question he now needed the answer to.

"Mirror… I need a mirror…"

Hajime rushed towards the drawer, looking for anything resembling a mirror.

" _Who… who am I? What do I look like? I-I need… to see my own face…"_

Items flew to the side, as Hajime's hands dug deeper and deeper to reach the bottom of the drawer.

The drawer contained clothes, photos and a wallet. Nothing that could help him see himself.

He closed the drawer and quickly opened the next, this time opting for throwing out all the items, to make sure nothing went unchecked. Still nothing.

The third drawer quickly underwent the same treatment as the other two. Once again, Hajime failed to find anything useful.

The drawer slammed shut with a huge bang. He quickly turned his head away from the drawer, scanning the room for what felt like the millionth time this morning.

"There's got to be something… There must be something…"

"PLING!"

The sudden sound startled Hajime. His blood froze, thinking for just a second that someone had entered the room. Upon realizing that wasn't the case, he anxiously began searching around the room for the source of the sound.

"Where is it? Where?!"

After a bit of searching, his attention turned to the table. Or more specifically, something on the table.

A small cell phone laid on the table, with the screen facing the table. A small light repeatedly flashed from it.

It looked like a phone with a front camera.

Hajime stared at the cell phone and his entire body began to shiver.

He slowly approached the phone, almost afraid to reach out and take it.

He really didn't want to take it, and under usual circumstances, he never would.

It wasn't his. He knew that whoever it belonged to, most likely didn't want him using it.

However, in the current situation Hajime couldn't see any other possibility. He needed to see his own face. He needed to know what was going on.

His hand eventually reached it, and it took a few seconds before he was able to pull it back to himeslf.

Mentally apologizing to the phone's rightful owner, he pulled it close to his own face, took a deep breath and pressed the first button his trembling fingers managed to find.

The screen lit up, showing that a message had been received not too long ago. Hajime assumed this was the message that had caused the sound, which startled him earlier.

"Hey Big Sis! Are you feeling all right? We promised to meet at the cafeteria 20 minutes ago! You're making me really worried! - Hiyoko"

And all of a sudden, everything clicked into place.

The fact that the message was from Hiyoko, of all people.

The fact that the room contained a corkboard filled with pictures.

The fact that he had woken up with so many changes to his body, clothes and location.

Hajime's heartrate increased as his fingers quickly moved across the screen, desperate to find the camera app. His voice was getting increasingly desperate.

"There's no way… It can't be…"

His fingers fumbled onto the camera app icon.

"There's just no way that can be real…"

The loading icon appeared for a brief second before the image captured by the front camera was shown on the screen of the phone.

A shaking person was staring back at him. Someone he had seen before.

The face currently looking back at him had short red hair, grey eyes and a few freckles above the nose.

Hajime blinked. The face on the screen blinked at the same time.

Hajime moved his head around. The face did the exact same movements.

Hajime touched his face with his left hand. The face was touched in the exact same location by a left hand.

There was no longer any doubt in Hajime's mind.

"I… I'm…"

Overwhelmed by the situation, Hajime swallowed, waiting a long time before finishing the sentence.

"…Mahiru Koizumi."

* * *

 **Hey everyone! After watching "Kimi No Na Wa" and reading "Boku wa Mari no Naka", I couldn't resist bringing a body-swap style story to the Danganronpa universe! I love those kinds of stories, as I think it leaves a lot of room for character building. Currently, I'm planning this to be a very typical version of this story, but I still think a lot of creative ideas are possible! After all, this is the Danganronpa universe. I already have plans for some of the chapters and possibly even the ending. Thanks for reading, hopefully Chapter 2 will come out some time in the future!  
(Also this was uploaded on Mahiru Koizumi's birthday! Did I plan for that?... Well, it'll sound cooler if I say "yes", so...)**


	2. 2) Face to Face

Hajime's eyes were locked with the phone for several minutes before he finally found it in himself to put it down. The increase in his heart rate didn't seem to ever want to go away.

He had checked, double-checked, triple-checked… And the results were always the same.

On the screen was not himself, but Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Photographer.

Hajime sat himself on the edge of her bed, looking around the room once again, with the now known identity of the room's owner in mind.

The corkboard filled with photographs. All of the pictures had been taken by her, presumably.

Hajime went up, grabbed a random picture, and returned to the edge of the bed, not taking his eyes off it.

It was a picture of Souda, Chiaki and himself, standing by the corner of the pool. He remembered doing that a bunch of times over the last week, so he had no idea when it was taken.

His gaze was naturally drawn to himself on the picture. From the expression on his face, it looked like he was in the middle of telling some kind of story to the other.

" _This photo's really good… Guess she got me in a good angle…"_

He stared at the picture for a while, then held it to the side, looking down himself for a few seconds before returning to the photo again.

It felt completely unreal. Here he was, on the photograph, looking just as normal as always.

And yet, whenever he turned his head away from the photo to look at the real-life version of himself… He just wasn't there.

Hajime felt a slight sense of panic taking over him each time he decided to look down himself. He needed something to distract him until he could calm down for a bit...

He put the photograph down on the bed, went to the corkboard to grab a few more, then returned to the bedside to look through them.

" _There's something about these pictures…"_

Hajime went through every single photo. There was one of Sonia smiling as Gundham showed her some kind of trick with his hamsters… This one showed Fuyuhiko and Peko smiling while eating lunch together… Himself again, swimming with the others on the beach while the sun was shining brightly in the background…

" _Everyone… is smiling."_

Every single person on every single photograph. There wasn't an instance of anything even remotely similar to unhappiness contained within any of them.

A faint smile started to appear on Hajime's face. He'd found the photos incredibly calming, just because of how happy and unthreatening they all were.

"Heh… She really does have a talent for this sort of thing."

Hajime couldn't stop staring at the pictures, letting his whole body relax in the process. This was just what he wanted, a long, quiet moment of calmness to help put his body at ease. For a few seconds, Hajime lost himself in all the smiles on the pictures, as all the worries in the world seemed to fade away.

At least, that was until…

*KNOCK KNOCK*

The sound of the door startled Hajime to the point of him losing his grip on the pictures, scattering them all over the floor.

His heart rate increased, as the far too familiar sense of panic began washing over him once again.

"Hey Mahiru! You awake? Hiyoko's waiting for you in the restaurant!"

There was no mistaking the voice. It was most definitely Souda calling from outside the door.

Hajime sat frozen in place on the bed.

" _Why is Souda here? What do I say to him?! What do I do!?"_

Souda's voice rang again from the outside.

"Mahiiiiruuuu! You awake or not?"

Hajime tried to open his mouth to speak, but nothing happened. It stayed shut, no matter what.

His breathing got faster and faster by the second.

He felt sick, as if someone had just walked in and punched him in the stomach.

How would Mahiru react in this situation? Hajime's mind went through what felt like thousands of possibilities. The different sentences flew into his head one way, then out the other as soon as they had entered. He couldn't keep one thought in his head, it was a mess of different words that he had no way of making any sense of.

It was no good. Hajime had only just gotten completely over the shock of turning into Mahiru, and now he was supposed to talk to Souda as her? There was no way he could do that! He hadn't talked to her enough to know much about her way of speaking. That meant Hajime could only do one thing.

He had to make Souda go away.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"MAHIIRUUU! Hiyoko said she would punch me again if I didn't bring you to her! I'm sorry, but I have to go in now!"

" _Stay away! Don't come in!"_

The world around Hajime seemed to slow down, as he realized that Souda would come in the room, leading to him having to explain himself.

But… to keep Souda from coming in, he had to say something. Anything.

Hajime's brain refused to cooperate with his body, his mouth refusing to open.

" _Just say something, dammit! Anything is fine, as long as he doesn't come in!"_

He could hear Souda placing his hand on the doorknob.

" _Please, say something!"_

The door was beginning to open, as a small beam of light began to shine from the opening of the doorway.

"…Uhhh…"

The door stopped moving. Souda remained on the outside, with his hand still on the door knob.

"Mahiru? Are you up?"

Powering through a heartbeat louder than it had ever been before, at the same time feeling as if he could throw up at any minute, Hajime spoke with an almost inaudible voice.

"Y-yeah… I'm up…"

"Hey, you don't sound too good… Is everything alright in there?"

Souda began to sound concerned.

"Don't worry, I'm… I'm fine…"

Trying his hardest to sound normal, Hajime got up from the bed, moving closer to the door.

"Mahiru, you don't sound too good… I have some water on me, I could come in and give you-"

"NO! J-just… go back to the restaurant…"

Hajime had made his way to the door. He pushed with both hands in a desperate attempt to shut it.

" _If I can just close the door I'll be safe…"_

Souda initially pushed against the door, but eventually realized that Mahiru was pushing with everything she got, leaving him with no choice but to take a step back, and let her fully close it.

The closing of the door left a small window for Hajime to catch his breath and calm down.

"Souda, please, don't worry about me… Just go back to the others…"

Hajime sighed in relief while leaning against the now closed door. No way for Souda to get in now.

"Allright Mahiru, but Hiyoko told me to go get her if you didn't come. Don't worry, I'll bring her back as fast as possible."

Hajime's eyes widened as a headache replaced the earlier feeling of nausea. This was bad. Hiyoko knew Mahiru better than anyone else on the island. The second she would enter, she would become suspicious of him. She would quickly figure out what was up, and probably punch and kick him until he told her how she could get her big sister back. If there was anything Hajime didn't want right now, it was to spend time with Hiyoko. It would be an instant Game Over for him.

Hajime heard Souda's footsteps, as he began to run back to the restaurant.

"NO, WAIT!"

The footsteps outside stopped, as Hajime began to prepare himself.

"I-I'll come out… Just give me a second."

He could hear Souda walking back to the door.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I just gotta get ready."

Hajime stood in front of the door. He had on other choice now. He had to go out and talk to Souda as Mahiru. He took multiple deep breaths. He needed to calm down as much as he could to get through this as quickly and painlessly as possible. Placing his hand on the doorknob, he paused for a second before pressing down and opening the door.

For a brief second, he was completely blinded by the sunlight. Hajime raised his arm to cover for the sun, but he had already felt the need to close his eyes completely to block it out.

With his eyes closed, Hajime thought to himself how nice it would be to open them and see himself standing in front of Souda. Looking down to see his own tie, pants and shoes on him was all he wanted. Desperately wishing for it to be true, Hajime fought against the sharp sun and opened his eyes.

In front of him stood Souda, not looking quite as cheerful as he usually did. He looked concerned, although Hajime didn't know whether that was for him, or Souda himself, as he noticed that he was rubbing his arm in a particular place.

" _I guess Hiyoko actually ended up punching him… Ouch."_

Souda, however, was quick to change his mood once he noticed that the red-haired girl had finally left her room, and joined him outside.

"Hey Mahiru! Feeling better?"

Hajime looked shyly down at the ground as he responded to the question.

"Y-yeah… Let's just get going…"

Hajime wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. Get to the restaurant without starting a conversation with Souda, try his best to avoid talking, then leave before anyone becomes suspicious.

That was the plan. However, that wasn't what Souda had in mind.

"So… You suuure everything's alright, right?"

Hajime, not having looked up for even a second yet, responded in the usual quiet tone.

"Everything's fine… L-let's… Let's just get to the restaurant already…"

Not satisfied with the answer, Souda pressed harder on the issue.

"Look, I just… don't want Hiyoko to hit me again. If you aren't perfectly fine, she's totally going to blame me! So… Please, just tell me if anything's wrong."

" _How long are you gonna keep this up, Souda? I said I'm fine!"_

"Look, nothing's wrong. I just… had a bad dream, that's all."

Hajime didn't think too highly of his lie, but right now, anything that had a chance of shutting Souda up was worth it. The apologizing for lying could wait until later, right now he just needed him to stop. Hajime thought of Souda as a good friend and all, but damn… Trying to get through to him was sometimes like trying to get through a brick wall.

To Hajime's surprise (and very much to his delight), Souda ate the lie right up.

"A bad dream? Well, I've been having the best dreams of my life since arriving here myself, so I don't see how the hell that's possible! Like, yesterday I…"

Hajime noticed the increase in volume in Souda's voice as he kept talking about what he had dreamt about the day before. That usually meant he was going to continue talking, with the volume not going down until someone physically stopped him.

However, unexpectedly, Souda lowered his volume not long after.

"Oh, heh… Sorry. Guess I got a little loud there, huh? Anyways, the door is right there! Come on!"

Souda suddenly ran to the door, quickly opening it and running inside. Hajime could hear his voice from inside the building.

"I'll let the others know that you're here!"

Hajime stopped walking, standing right before the door.

" _Odd… Normally when Souda starts talking, he can't be stopped..."_

Hajime stood confused for a while, before looking down at the dress he was wearing. As the logic clicked into place, Hajime couldn't help but laugh to himself.

" _Oh, I see… This is how Souda acts around girls, huh?"_

Hajime was thankful that Souda had accidentally made him laugh. Anything to keep the mood up before having to go in and face the other students.

He took a step back and looked up. The building appeared bigger and much more intimidating when standing right at the foot of it. Hajime swallowed, took a deep breath, and then proceeded to walk to the door.

Every step felt heavy. He knew he wasn't ready to hang out with the other students. He knew full well that whatever he did, it would look suspicious.

Standing in front of the door, Hajime reached out his hand.

This was it. The moment that door would swing open, the moment anyone would try talking to him, the moment he would mess up and not know what to say, it would be game over. End of story. No coming back.

His hand was now inches from the doorhandle.

It was over. Hajime closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

However, that plan was quickly interrupted by someone grabbing a hold of his wrist and running off with him.

Hajime shrieked as the person ran off with him, holding on tightly to his wrist. He couldn't do anything but run right after them, almost stumbling as the other person refused to let go. Whoever it was, they were determined to get him somewhere very, very fast.

"Hey! Let go of me!"

Hajime heard his newly acquired female voice shouting for the first time, as he tried to get the person to let go. This didn't seem to have affect on them, however, as they kept running, holding on to Hajime so tightly, that it was beginning to hurt.

"It hurts! Let go!"

Hajime tried in vain to pull his arm away, but couldn't do it. Comparing the body he was currently stuck in to the one who was currently dragging him… somewhere, the other one was significantly stronger.

The two of them went around the hotel, where the building was blocking the morning sun. Combined with being forced to run at a way too fast pace to keep up, and the shadows engulfing the surrounding area, any attempt at identifying the other person failed. Only the general form of the body was currently visible. Hajime had no idea who had latched onto him.

Had someone discovered his secret? Was he being dragged away to be questioned? Nekomaru? Couldn't be, the shape of the body didn't match him at all. Akane? No, she wouldn't pass breakfast for the world, so she was out of the equation too…

The frustration began building up inside of Hajime. After already having to go through a morning waking up as somebody else, the last thing he currently wanted was to be forced around by a stranger. Inhaling as best as he could while being forced to run, Hajime screamed:

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

The person holding onto him abruptly stopped, releasing the tight grip on him. Hajime instantly went down on all fours, gasping for air. Not finding the energy to look anywhere but directly down into the ground, Hajime eventually caught his breath somewhat, and asked the question again.

"Who… are you?"

The person spoke for the first time.

"Do… do you know what's happening?"

Hajime instantly recognized the voice as being male. Other than that, he was left just as confused as he first were.

"Wh-What do you mean?"

The other person turned around and walked towards Hajime.

"Look at me, and please tell me what exactly is going on..."

The boy stood right in front of him, his feet being only inches from Hajime's face. Hajime's eyes widened as he noticed the shoes the other guy was wearing.

" _Those are…!"_

Despite previously having a hard time catching his breath, Hajime shot up from the ground, almost losing his balance in the progress. After stabilizing himself, Hajime found himself still looking at the persons feet.

The shoes were a normal pair of white and grey sneakers. Exactly like his own.

Hajime's gaze went upwards.

The pants were normal, everyday black pants. Just like his own.

The green tie hanging from the persons neck. Precisely like his own.

Hajime was shaking. He'd made it to the persons throat, and above that was… the face.

He knew exactly what the face would look like.

He didn't want to look. He didn't want it to be true.

But... he didn't have a choice.

Hajime looked further up. He was now looking at the other person face to face.

The other person had grey eyes, a small triangular nose and a sharp ahoge sticking out from the top.

There was no doubt anymore.

"Y-You're… me."

The other person closed their eyes and nodded.

It was the confirmation Hajime didn't want, but was forced to accept anyways.

When the other person's eyes opened, Hajime noticed that he was on the edge of tearing up.

Hajime couldn't think of any way to respond. He had no idea what to do. How do you say anything in this situation?

The other person laid both of his hands on Hajime's shoulders, looking him directly in the eyes.

"Hajime… Do you know what's going on?"

Silence. Hajime was speechless. He was still processing what was going on in front of him.

Taking a step back, the other person wiped his eyes and looked back at Hajime.

"It's me… It's Mahiru."

 **(Hi there! Thanks for the great feedback on the first chapter!... Well, I mean, only 2 people left a review... But those reviews were still what made me want to get this chapter out as quickly as possible! This chapter might be a little dark for some's tastes, but the story will get a little lighter as it goes on, don't worry! Just a few notes for this particular chapter: I know Souda's English name is "Kazuichi", but I personally prefer "Souda" much more. Also, Souda was used in chapter 1, so I'm just gonna go with that for now. If it's too annoying, just tell me, and I'll change it for the next chapter. Also, working out when to use "Hajime" and when to use "Mahiru" is going to be quite the pain. Hopefully, it will be made as clear as possible exactly which character the story is referring to at certain times, but I might have to figure out an easier way if possible. Anyways, that's it for me for now. Hopefully I'll eventually see you guys again in chapter 3!)**


	3. 3) No Answer Available

When Hajime first arrived on Jabberwock Island, nothing made any sense. He was confused, bewildered, didn't really know what to think. The fact that he suddenly was standing on a beautiful island, the fact that a stuffed animal was talking to him… In the beginning, he couldn't make any rational sense out of the situation. It was as far away from a rational reality as he'd ever been. However, after being told to just enjoy the company of his other classmates, Hajime eventually found himself coming up with unlikely, but still good enough solutions for him to settle the debate raging inside of him, and moving on. The talking stuffed animal? It was probably some kind of robot or other piece of highly advanced technology. If there was one school in the world that had enough capital for that, it was Hope's Peak. The mystery of teleporting to a far-away tropical island was significantly more unrealistic, but Hajime's mind eventually settled down on the idea that Hope's Peak had injected them with some kind of sleep drug, and then carried them to the island while in their comatose state. Hope's Peak had the people to make a drug as long lasting as that, and definitely had enough money to carry them all out to an idea by boat. Sure, drugging the new students was going way too far for Hajime's own tastes, but it wasn't like he had anyone to complain to about it now. Monomi didn't seem to have any intentions of letting the students know about what was going on, and all the other students seemed to remember just about as much as Hajime himself… That being almost nothing. The warmth of the sun and the beauty of the island had eventually won them over, and the whole thing about being drugged was quickly forgotten. With the two biggest mysteries accounted for, Hajime felt relieved, finally ready to fully enjoy the experience ahead of him. Whatever new mystery might pop up, Hajime was fully prepared to debunk it, just as he did with the previous.

However, the situation unfolding in front of him currently simply couldn't be rationally explained.

Standing in front of him was… himself. His own body. Same hair, same clothes, same voice… Everything was too perfect to be fabricated in some way. There was no explanation behind this. Nothing could ever convince him that the situation unfolding before him was fake. He had no choice but to believe the person standing in front of him to be himself, with another person's mind trapped inside. That line of thinking was quickly confirmed from none other than the version of himself currently standing in front of him.

"It's me… I'm Mahiru."

The two of them were still standing in the shadow of the hotel, looking at each other, with about 2 meters of space between where they were standing.

Hajime's mind was cluttered with a mixture of confusion and questions that didn't seem to have any logical answer.

" _This isn't… How… Why her… But... No, this is…"_

Not one thought could be completed before the next one took over. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He simply did not understand why, how, when… anything was happening. He was at a complete loss.

Hajime remained motionless for several seconds. What could he do? What should he say? Was there anything to say?

He looked up at Mahiru. He still hadn't got used to seeing himself standing in front of him, and it took several tries before he managed to build up the courage to, quite literally, look himself in the eyes.

She didn't give him much time to catch his breath, as her next question caught Hajime completely off guard.

"Hajime… Do you know why this is happening?"

They were still looking each other straight in the eyes. Almost as if they were trying to communicate entirely with their facial expressions.

Hajime quickly studied the eyes of Mahiru. Despite trying to remain as calm as possible on the outside, Mahiru's eyes told a different story entirely. On the brink of bursting into tears, the look she gave Hajime was a look of something who was scared. Afraid. Someone who just wanted an answer.

Hajime still didn't know what to say. He would need several minutes to set everything straight. Figure out a rational solution to everything that was happening.

However, Mahiru wasn't contempt with waiting. She walked forward, grabbing Hajime by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth, tears building up in the corner of her eyes.

"HAJIME! TELL ME WHY! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING! I DON'T KNOW THE REASON, SO PLEASE TELL ME YOU KNOW SOMETHING! PLEASE!"

Hajime could feel the desperation and fear in her voice. He found himself locked in place, forced to look Mahiru directly in the eyes as she shouted from the bottom of her lungs. Mahiru, who days before had been probably one of the most rational people on the island, was now on the brink of completely losing herself.

" _Say something to her!"_

Hajime's thoughts made it clear for him what exactly he was supposed to do in this situation. However, the sight before him took away all his words before he could even attempt to utter them. The same questions from before started repeating. What could he say? What should he say?

" _Just… Just do something dammit!_ "

Without thinking about it, Hajime raised his own hands. He placed them on Mahiru's removing them from his own shoulders. He then turned the situation on its head, placing his own hands on her shoulders.

"Mahiru, listen to me!"

Mahiru abruptly stopped. She froze at the touch of Hajime's hands on her shoulders, her eyes red from tearing up and her face warm from screaming. Hajime knew that he needed to say something now. After multiple deep breaths, trying his best to calm himself down, he made sure to made Mahiru look him directly in the eyes before speaking.

"Look, I don't know what's happening. This… is something that can't be real. But…"

He paused for a second before continuing.

"But all I know for sure, is that for this to make sense, I need you to help me. We both have to stay calm."

After finishing, Hajime swallowed before having to catch his breath, praying that he somehow managed to get through to her.

Mahiru, moving her arms for the first time after they were removed from Hajime's shoulders, wiped off a few tears from her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking in a much calmer tone than before.

"…Okay."

Hajime sighed.

" _Phew… Thank… Thank God…"_

Releasing his grip on Mahiru, Hajime turned around and pulled back, allowing her some room to calm herself down. In this situation, they both needed as much time as possible to let whatever was currently happening sink in. Hajime knew he couldn't just ask her to get over it and help him figure out what was going on. He instead waited on her to say something.

It took a few seconds, but eventually she had calmed down enough for her to speak normally again.

"Thanks..."

Hajime turned around in surprise. Her face was covered by her hands, still trying to wipe away the last remaining tears. When the hands eventually did move away, revealing her face…

Despite her face being red, and looking far from completely okay, she was smiling. At him. It wasn't a big overjoyed smile, her lips nearly formed a straight line… But unnoticeable as it was, it was definitely there.

Hajime, seeing no reason why not to, smiled back at her as best he could, making sure to talk to her as gently as possible.

"No problem."

* * *

It took some time for both of them to completely calm down. Minutes went by in complete silence, as both of them took the time to fully grasp what was happening. Eventually, Hajime could no longer stand the silence between the two of them, and began to ask small questions to Mahiru, trying his hardest to find some kind of answer. He learned about what she did in the morning, how she noticed the changes way faster than Hajime, and how shocked she was when she saw herself in front of the entrance to the big hotel building. Despite learning what had happened to her, no new clues came up. Nothing else felt out of place, no other strange events had taken place, nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Sitting down on the grass behind the hotel, Hajime and Koizumi eventually found themselves at a complete loss. Even after multiple question were asked between them, no answers came up. Hajime expected Mahiru to at least remember something about yesterday, before they woke up this morning, something that could answer any of their questions, but listening to her story didn't do Hajime much more else than give him déjà vu.

"Well, I went home from the party… And… I went to sleep a little later than usual… But when I woke up, I found myself in this body. In your room."

The exact same experience as himself.

"You absolutely sure? Nothing strange happened?"

Mahiru looked down at the grass, thinking back as hard as could, trying to find anything of use.

"… No. I just… Nothing seemed out of place…"

Hajime sighed.

"Damn… We can't seem to find anything…"

A silence followed. Hajime laid both his hands on his forehead, frustration building up inside of him.

" _Think back… There must be something… I went to the party, danced, went home and the-"_

The sudden sound of Mahiru's voice immediately derailed Hajime train of thought.

"Hajime… Why do you think this is happening to us?"

Still frustrated with not getting any new answers, Hajime angrily snapped back.

"I don't know what's going on here, I've already told yo-"

Mahiru raised her voice.

"I'm not talking about 'what', Hajime, I'm talking about 'why'?"

Hajime slowly turned to look at Mahiru. She was looking determined, serious. He was looking straight at her face as she continued.

"We both get what's happening now… As much as I don't want it to be real… But, if this really is happening… Why is happening to us specifically?"

Hajime was caught completely off guard by the question. All of his focus had until now been spent on finding out what exactly was happening, and whether it was real or not. But now that it had been confirmed, Hajime found himself wondering. Why did it happen? And more importantly, why specifically did it involve himself and Koizumi? Was there a purpose behind it? Did they have something in common? Maybe it had something to do with-

"Hey!"

Mahiru's sudden outburst startled Hajime. He'd been lost in thought for a couple seconds now, and Mahiru, not afraid to speak her mind, was getting tired of waiting on him.

"Huh? Oh, right, sorry. No, I don't know why…"

Mahiru sighed, almost as if she knew Hajime's answer before he said it.

"… Figures."

A brief moment of silence filled the air before Mahiru spoke up once again, this time in a more quiet voice than before.

"Do… Do we have to stay in each other's bodies forever?"

She was once again looking for an answer from Hajime, well aware that he didn't have one.

"I don't know."

Mahiru's head sunk once again. She was losing hope quickly. Hajime knew he needed to do something.

He quickly shifted from sitting on his butt to sitting on his knees, and leaned forwards towards Mahiru, once again putting his hands on her shoulders.

"But don't worry… Trust me, we are going to find a way out of this. I will return both of us to where we belong, alright?"

Mahiru nodded back. The gesture made Hajime find enough confidence in himself to add one more line to his reassuring statement.

"I promise you."

The following moment was one of peace and calm. No one said a word. Hajime had just made a promise to Mahiru. This wasn't just 'trying to figure out what was going on' anymore. This was now a mission. He had to find a way out of the current situation. Not just for himself, but for Mahiru as well.

"Umm, Hajime? Could you please let go?"

Hajime noticed the uncomforting look on Mahiru's face. His hands were still on her shoulders.

"Gah! Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to!"

He quickly pulled his hands back, his cheeks turning pure red in the process.

He wasn't alone for long though, as Mahiru began blushing right after as well.

"It's okay, it's just… It's weird, being touched by yourself."

Hajime looked down at his hand. It's was obviously not his own, but in a situation like this, it was sometimes hard to remember.

"Oh, yeah... Sorry."

Mahiru scratched the back of her head, avoiding Hajime's line of sight while doing so.

A semi-awkward moment followed. Both of them looking away from one another, their cheeks didn't seem to get any less red over time.

Hajime was desperately trying to find something to talk about.

" _This is kinda awkward…"_

Hajime looked around, hoping that Mahiru would think of something to talk about before him.

" _I feel… kind of nervous… Guess that just comes with being around Mahiru…"_

Hajime sighed. Welp, guess he had to be the man, and be the first person to say something that could break this horrible silence. He turned to Mahiru, ready to ask her something, when all of a sudden...

"Hey! You guys! What the hell are you doing?"

Someone had interrupted him. Someone who wasn't Mahiru.

"Hajime! Mahiru! Come on, we've been waiting since forever on you!"

Hajime had heard the voice before. In fact, he distinctively remembered hearing it earlier today.

" _This… is bad…"_

He turned around. A person was standing about 20 meters away, in a yellow jumpsuit, with pink hair covered by a black hat.

" _This is very, very bad…"_

Hajime could feel the blood freezing inside of him. He looked over at Mahiru, who by the look of her face, was feeling the exact same way as him right now. Time seemed to almost slow down to a halt, as it became very obvious who was shouting at the two of them.

"S-Souda?!"

* * *

 **Hello again! Took some time, mainly because of exams, but I hope you still enjoyed Chapter 3! I've been getting so many incredible reviews from you guys, and it really is what keeps this story going. So, and I really do mean it, thank you guys so much for reading! Unfortunately, the exams and all the other stuff is not completely over yet, so it could take a while before Chapter 4 comes out. Don't worry, it definitely will come out at some point! Anyways, that about sums it up for me for now. I'll hopefully see you guys in the next chapter. Take care!**


	4. 3,5) Kazuichi Souda's Worst Day Ever

Souda wasn't having the best of mornings. All the chatting and dancing from last night's party definitely left a mark on him. Feeling tired and worn-out, Souda wanted nothing more than to get some breakfast, go collect the materials Usami wanted, and then do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day. He had even planned it all out in his head. After breakfast he would be sitting by the poolside for a bit, then proceed to go collect today's materials. After that, he would get going to the beach for a quick seaside swim before finally settling down in his own room until Teruteru called all of them to a late dinner. It was a perfect plan, a great way to get some work done, while still being able to enjoy some stress-free activities. And up until right now, the plan was proceeding smoothly. He had woken up relatively early, and been one of the first to arrive at the restaurant. Yup, everything was seemingly going according to plan.

However, Hiyoko Saionji had other things in mind for Souda.

She and Mahiru had promised each other to meet at the restaurant 20 minutes earlier. Well, it was mostly Hiyoko just wanting to get some of the sweeter stuff for herself before the others arrived, with Mahiru being forced to tag along. Mahiru didn't mind, however, and happily made the promise. They would meet inside the restaurant, in a specific place, at a specific time. Hiyoko, excited to spend as much time as possible with Mahiru, sprinted out of bed that morning, as fast as she could to the agreed upon location, and waited for Mahiru to show up.

She waited for two minutes. No sign of Mahiru yet.

Ten minutes passed. As Akane and Nekomaru showed up, Hiyoko's plan about keeping all the sweet stuff to herself slowly began to fall apart.

Then fifteen minutes had suddenly passed. Then twenty. Then thirty. More and more people were beginning to show up at the restaurant, but Mahiru wasn't one of them. Hiyoko, not moving from her spot was feeling worried, more worried than she had ever been on the school trip thus far. Where could Mahiru be? Why wasn't she coming? She eventually came to the conclusion, that someone had to go check on them, but didn't wanna risk leaving the site and not being there if, by chance, Mahiru decided to show up in that time frame. It would be best if she could get someone to get her big sister for her. She quickly looked around for someone she had enough control of to force them to go get Mahiru. Hmm… Sonia? Nah, she couldn't get her away from Gundham. How about Akan- Oh wait, no, she was face deep into the buffet already. But then her eyes landed on the person in the back, quietly hanging out by himself, having a good time.

"Perfect."

She innocently walked over to Souda's table, smiling in just the right way, a way that would make her concern seem believable enough for someone as dumb as Souda to fall for it. Approaching the blissfully unaware Souda from behind, she slowly raised her hand and carefully tapped him on the back.

The purpose of this action was for Souda to turn around and notice her, standing with crocodile tears in her eyes. She would then try and force him to go get Mahiru, but in such a way, that he wouldn't have a choice. It would be either that, or having to deal with a crying Hiyoko. And as she had quickly learned from being with the others, none of them wanted to deal with a crying Hiyoko. It was a perfect plan.

Unfortuneatly, Hiyoko had forgotten to account for Souda's tendency to get… well… easily surprised.

As soon as her hand touched his shoulder, Souda jumped what seemed like several feet up in the air, screaming at the top of his lungs, as his hat just barely managed to stay on his head.

"AAAAH, SOMETHING TOUCHED ME!"

After landing back in the chair, he spun around, turning his head directly into the line of sight of everyone else in the restaurant. Well, everyone except those who weren't busy diving head first into the morning-buffet. And while Souda didn't like all those sets of eyes on him, there was one set in particular he found a little more unnerving than the others. Those would be the eyes of the person standing only a few feet behind the chair he was sitting on. Eyes, that were hard to describe using other words than "filled with burning, pure hatred".

"Oh… Uhh… Hey, Hiyoko…"

Furious over the incompetence on display in front of her, Hiyoko closed her fist and threw as hard of a punch as she could into, directly onto Souda's arm.

"GAAH, WHY CAN'T YOU DO *ANYTHING* RIGHT!?"

Before Souda could even register that he had been hit, and put his other hand around the spot where Hiyoko had hit him to cover it up, another punch landed. Then another. And so on. In very quick succession.

"WAIT WH-WHAT DID I DO HIYOK-AAAAH!"

Souda got up from his chair and ran away, as fast as his legs could take him, occasionally looking back at the fiery Hiyoko, who looked like she was seriously considering taking away his life in some form or another. Across the restaurant the two of them went, back and forth between the tables where all the other students were sitting. They had (somehow) managed to ignore the pair, and continue with their brunch as usual.

Souda eventually hit a dead end, and had to stop running. He quickly closed his eyes and held up his hands to protect his face and shoulder. Hiyoko continued on, her fist once again ready to make contact with his arm. Souda, on the other hand, had had quite enough of being beaten up by a girl several inches smaller than himself, and decided to surrender.

"ALLRIGHT! Allright, fine, I'll do whatever you need me to do! Just, for the love of god, STOOOP!"

Hiyoko put her arm down, which allowed Souda to get out of his defensive state, and look her in the eyes.

"You… You better go get Mahiru RIGHT NOW, or I swear I'll make this day even worse for you!"

Souda nodded furiously, his heart pounding so loud, that Hiyoko was probably able to hear it if she tried.

"Mahiru? Right, right, sure, no problem, I'll get her for you!"

He quickly ran out of the restaurant, refusing to ever look behind him over the fear of what he might see if he looked directly into Hiyoko's eyes.

After the door closed behind him, Hiyoko seemingly instantly cheered up, and sat down at the nearest available table.

"Phew, I'm so happy that's over! Wouldn't you agree?"

Before turning around to look at who she had chosen to sit with, she threw the question up in the air. When she did turn around, however…

"OH, mademoiselle! Why, I KNEW you would eventually sit down next to me one day!"

Hiyoko, instantly feeling sick, got up and quickly sat down at Peko's nearby table instead.

"Get away from me, you PERVERT!"

* * *

A couple minutes passed before the sound of the doors opening was heard again.

"We're back!"

Hiyoko jumped at the sound of Souda's voice. Well, it wasn't Souda she was excited to see, but his voice indicated the arrival of someone else.

"Big sis!"

She ran downstairs, expecting to run into the red-haired girl, she insisted on calling her sister.

Instead, Souda just stood with a big smile on his face, with no Mahiru in sight.

Hiyoko, confused, decided to give Souda exactly **one** chance to explain himself.

"Umm… Souda, where is Mahiru?"

Souda, suddenly looking less confident in himself, turned around, himself getting surprised as well.

"Uh… Hehe… That's weird… She was here a second ago…"

Quietly mumbling to himself, he turned around into an even more furious Hiyoko.

Fire spouting from her eyes, with her fists clenched, Hiyoko was looking less than pleased from Souda's answer.

"Souda… I will give you THREE seconds to get out and bring her here… OR ELSE…"

Hiyoko slowly walked over towards him, bringing her foot down even harder with each step.

Needless to say, Souda was out of the door before even the first of the three seconds were up.

Hiyoko, cursing herself for ever interacting with such an idiot as Souda, went upstairs to wait for Mahiru, verbally confirming what she thought of Souda in the process.

"God damn that idiot…"

She sat down, a mixture of anger towards Souda and worry towards Mahiru building up inside her.

" _Big sis… Where are you? Please… hurry up…"_

* * *

 **Surprise! This fanfiction is still alive! Despite having to go through several exams (of which only half are finished by the time of writing this), I managed to get out a small bonus-chapter to keep the story going until I can make time to finally write on Chapter 4! This was orginally intended to be the beginning of Chapter 4, but I had so much fun writing Souda and Hiyoko's characters, that I conceded in the end and wrote them an entire chapter. I'm still getting reviews for the series every week, and those reviews are what keep me going and wanting to write more of the story! So far, Chapter 4 and 5 are planned out, and I will get around to writing them sometime after the 20th of June. And that's basically all from me at this point, once again thank you SOOOOO much for reading! I'll hopefully see you guys in the next (real) chapter!  
**


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